No, this is not another whinge about fixing pitchmarks! I am curious as what/why greens are cored (is that that what you call it when they take hundreds of plugs out about 5-10com deep and 1cm across?), and then putting heaps of sand on the green? Does this happen once or twice a year? And do they also use a smaller coring size more frequent?

thanks in advance

No, this is not another whinge about fixing pitchmarks! I am curious as what/why greens are cored (is that that what you call it when they take hundreds of plugs out about 5-10com deep and 1cm across?), and then putting heaps of sand on the green? Does this happen once or twice a year? And do they also use a smaller coring size more frequent?

thanks in advance

coring relives compaction and assists with drianage via the fresh sand put into the core holes. Generally its done twice per year with a half inch tyne but that can vary, a lot of courses now use solid needle tynes on a regular basis that opens up the surface but can be played on after rolling.

My old account is no longer active so I start again. My club send out an email about every2 weeks with some good info about what is going on both in the club and on course. Makes sense to me and this has just come out about the renovations which I think is great info. Bloody pity they are going to dig them up because the greens have been absolutely sensational for the past three months but that always seems the way. Our greenkeeper is pretty switched on though so if he says all this then who am I to argue?? Good part is only one course gets done at a time so hope to get a game on the other course for a couple of weeks.
As per the Members handbook the West greens are due for their annual renovation on Monday August 25th. Whilst this is always an unpopular event amongst golfers it is very necessary for the turf and in particular to prepare the Bent greens for the summer months. At the West greens have had no aeration since a deep solid tine in April and following the recent dry spell we have experienced and the very busy golfing calendar, the greens have been subjected to a very high level of preparation involving mowing and rolling which results in severe compaction. Indeed the greens are currently so compacted, that even a light shower of rain will render them unplayable due to water pooling on the surface. Such compaction is very helpful in providing the firm fast surface that has been evident lately but it doesn’t help grass growth very much. The compaction leads to a build up of gasses in the rootzone that can inhibit root growth and also prevents water infiltration into the rootzone. This years renovation will consist of hollow tyne coring using 5/8 inch tynes, followed by the application of fertiliser and granular calcium and then the sand top dressing. The sand used for the topdressing will have organic compost mixed with it that assists the aeration, water infiltration and water holding capacity of the soil profile. The compost used also supplies and encourages existing micro organisms which help in the prevention of disease. As a matter of interest the compost used is one of the few composts that has achieved certification for use on organically grown crops.
Weather permitting the week prior to the main renovation the West greens will be de-thatched (light scarifying) and the collars of the greens will be heavily scarified. It is necessary to do this work the week prior as there is not enough time or labour available during the main week.

Admin will sort u out…..